At 14 lbs the vet was of the opinion that Holly is overweight. I asked him what I could do about this. After all, it’s not like I can deprive her of food or feed her salads, carrot sticks and celery.

The vet had three suggestions: switch to weight management food, replace a bowl of food with a catmosphere, and increase playtime.

This advice was followed up right away. I switched Holly’s food, bought not one but catmosphere balls and ordered a toy online.

While the weight management food was a hit, the catmospheres and the toy was not. Mickey, Charlotte, Gabriel and Holly looked at the balls, didn’t know what to make of it and even seemed afraid of them. I demonstrated how to get the food out of the balls, but no, they wanted nothing to do with them.​As for the toy … I saw the 3 tier ball toy advertised on Facebook, the kittens had lots of fun with it.

My lot, however, didn’t trust the newcomer. The pictures reflect their reaction ...

Mickey ... what is this?

Gabriel ... what am I supposed to do with this?

Holly ... I'm not fat, I'm fluffy.

Charlotte ... that thing looks suspicious.

Now it so happened that I received a box of chocolates tied up with a red ribbon. And this ribbon was the biggest hit ever. Mickey, Charlotte, Gabriel and Holly took turns playing with the ribbon, picking it up in their mouth and dragging it away, or bringing it to me to play with them. They can’t get enough of it.